Future-Proof PT

The momentum behind physical therapists, the payers still holding on to an old picture of PT, and what new grads need to stay in the profession. (subscribe to our YouTube channel here .) Kyle teaches at Duke, spent years in hospital-based care as a board-certified neurologic specialist, and started PT school in 2001, when direct access and the DPT were the new conversation. He's candid about how h...

Chris Hoekstra watched PT's AI panic flip in twelve months at the same annual meeting, and he explains what that reversal says about how this profession actually changes. Chris has been a PT for about 25 years. He also holds a PhD in clinical informatics, teaches organizational behavior at Oregon Health & Science University, and leads clinical transformation work at Therapeutic Associates. He call...

Net Health's Ben Barron on the 12,000-therapist shortage, what CMS' proposed RTM changes would mean for rural practices, and how to create access to physical therapists' expertise starting today. The physical therapy profession is 12,000 therapists short, with no catch-up projected until 2037 at the earliest. Demand is climbing. Filling the schedule is not the problem. We should be focused on how...

VA Leader Brian Westlake, PT, DPT, Cert MDT on how to impact total cost of care, what it means to control healthcare spending in a fixed budget and how primary care is crucial, outcomes-accountable care, and MSK triage in primary care. After 25 years leading inside the Veterans Administration, Brian Westlake came away certain that future of the physical therapy profession depends on moving upstrea...

Plus, Ray Dalio's framework for how systems break, applied to the profession's financial reckoning and its AI future (note: this episode was published before the CMS 2027 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule was published) Is physical therapy heading toward its own financial reckoning? In Episode 32, Dana and Alex run MSK care through the same systems logic Ray Dalio uses to explain how countries...

Duke's Dr. Chad Cook on the 5 things MSK therapists obsess over, and what we should be doing instead A VA physician once told a colleague of Dr. Chad Cook's that physical therapy isn't really the movement profession, it's the Swiss Army knife profession, because PTs do a little bit of everything. Whenever no one else knows what to do, the patient gets sent to PT to "get it sorted out." Chad isn't...

And the active ingredients in PT often aren't even physical "We have the capacity to provide a level of care that nobody else in the healthcare system does. But we're being hamstrung by the payment models." — Dr. Trevor Lentz Dr. Trevor Lentz of Duke University on why patients write off physical therapy after one failed attempt, what the profession is actually selling, and the payment models keepi...

Why content follows culture, and practical actions clinic owners can implement within the next 3 months. Find the full episode transcript here. Posting more isn’t a growth strategy. Kylie Williams joins us to break down why “marketing to patients” on social media is getting harder, and why the clinics that win are the ones building culture that therapists actually want to be part of. We talk reten...

How RVUs (Not the Conversion Factor) Quietly Squeeze PT and OT and the Practical Blueprint to Shift From "Minutes" to ACO-Ready Value (read the full transcript here) In this episode, Alex and Dana discuss the CMMI ACCESS Model and what it could unlock for MSK care inside ACOs. They debate digital enablement reality and explain how aligned incentives can reshape referral pathways. They make a direc...

A reality-check on what works today, what is hype, and what must improve before digital-first MSK care earns trust We sit down today with Sergei Polevikov ( FixHealth.ai , Well. AI / Chart2Chart) for a reality-check conversation on what AI in healthcare actually is, where it genuinely helps today, and where the hype can cause harm. Sergei breaks down AI’s evolution from early machine learning to m...

We are tackling physical therapy's brand crisis head-on. From pop culture portrayals (yes, we're talking about that "Land Man" stripper scene) to CMS policy that treats PT as "substitute spend" for MSK digital health solutions, the evidence is clear: we have a public perception problem. We explore why professional identity matters, how specialization creates internal dissonance, and why evidence-b...

Explore the intersection of evidence-based practice, healthcare economics, and pseudoscience in rehab, plus practical strategies for clinicians who want to do better without going broke Is your physical therapy practice built on evidence, or just what pays? In this episode, we sit down with Paul Ingraham, science writer and founder of painscience.com , to challenge the line between evidence-based...

How crazy is it that proven interventions in healthcare take so long to spread, even when they show clear economic and clinical benefits? Innovation in healthcare is painfully difficult to get into widespread adoption, even after proven successful. This episode discusses the results of a nine year-old study at Geisinger Health System on a PT-First "bundle" that's just as relevant today. But the di...

Check out the You Tube version of the podcast here. In this episode, Dana and Alex review the research articles Alex shared with Future Proof PT newsletter subscribers on January 4th, 2025, exploring what these studies reveal about healthcare transformation and what PTs can learn from them. They dive into the 4% screening tool study that dramatically improved outcomes by simply asking patients abo...

Fee-for-service PT reimbursement isn't viable. It's just math. In this episode, we bring our second physician guest to the Future Proof PT studio to explain. For Episode 22, we are joined by sports medicine surgeon and Protera Health co-founder Dr. Eric Makhni, MD, MBA, who also explains what physical therapists can do about our "math problem." We explore the economics of MSK care, who actually be...

How to Benefit from Value-Based Care Strategies While Treating in Fee-For-Service "Why should I care about value-based care TODAY?" If you're not in a risk contract and your clinic runs on fee-for-service, this question probably hits home. The answer? You don't need a value-based contract to win with value-based thinking. Alex and Dana welcome Cody Lee and Jonathan Smith, two physical therapists w...

Alex and Dana met on LinkedIn, started a podcast, and only met in person in October of 2025. They use their milestone 20th episode to issue an urgent call: 270,000 physical therapists must each become agents of change, starting today. They cover these topics and more: -The economic reality is unsustainable. Therapists graduate with up to $200K debt (three-quarters of medical school) to earn a $120...

Why your best play is calling the shots, not running them all Alex and I recently talked about the physical therapist income floor and ceiling. And in this episode, we talk with Dr. Marc Gruner, who offers a framework for a solution to that seemingly impenetrable ceiling. Here's the punchline. The income ceiling in PT isn't about reimbursement rates. It's about your practice model. Dr. Gruner crea...

Drowning in student debt? Feeling undervalued as a PT? Here's why: You're trapped between an artificial floor and a glass ceiling. The floor? PT school costs more than an MBA at MIT—that's your barrier to entry. The ceiling? The AMA's physician-dominated board literally decides what you're worth. And between those two forces, you're stuck. Today we break down the economic trap keeping PTs fragment...

What happens when the only physical therapist to serve two U.S. Presidents shares his unfiltered blueprint for transforming PT into a primary care powerhouse? Dr. Drew Contreras, PT, DPT, SCS—Lieutenant Colonel (retired), former White House Medical Unit PT to Presidents Obama and Biden, and current APTA Vice President of Strategic Affairs—delivers a masterclass in professional evolution that will...

Explorers, Innovators, and the Future of Therapy Practice What distinguishes an explorer from a maintainer in the therapy profession? Why are outside disruptors capturing market share while traditional practices struggle? How can clinicians leverage cutting-edge research on mitochondrial DNA and movement disorders to revolutionize treatment approaches? We tackle these questions and more in a dialo...

Episode Summary: In the latest episode of Future Proof PT, hosts Dana Strauss and Alex Bendersky, along with special guest Jerry Durham, tackle the critical crossroads facing physical therapy as a profession. They challenge listeners to question whether they're functioning as true healthcare professionals or merely "operators" in a broken system. The trio discusses how healthcare is rapidly transf...

Dana and Alex explore the Therapy Value Quotient, an objective framework for measuring clinical impact that goes beyond subjective reasoning. Learn a practical algorithm that factors in functional improvement, patient complexity, care intensity, and cost—plus why establishing clear therapy prognoses is essential for professional survival. Key topics covered in this episode: objective clinical meas...

Physical Therapists, listen up! "Make America Healthy Again," or MAHA, is a chance to improve the professional identify of PTs regardless of politics! It's a chance to embrace and highlight the profession and its doctoral status and to position its reputation as long-term partners in patients'/the population's MSK health as opposed to merely providers of episodic care. PTs can and should be the "q...

Ready to revolutionize your PT career? Think of it like Wayne Gretzky's famous quote - skate to where the puck is going, not where it's been. In today's rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, having a game plan for your career as part of the PT profession (clinical, non-clinical, or both) isn't just nice-to-have, it's essential for survival. The signs of change are everywhere if you know where to...